Out & InScapes: Works by Ben Gibson Ronald E. Holstein Gallery
September 7, 2012 through January 12, 2013

The artist will be present for a public reception during
Gallery Night, Friday,September 21 from 7 to 10 pm.

Painter Ben Gibson’s new body of work contrasts studio creations with plein-air paintings of the American West. In 2011 Gibson took a sabbatical from teaching at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania to travel out west to paint. Working outdoors presented a new challenge to Gibson’s technique and style. Quickly changing light conditions forced him to work faster. He had to mix the color from direct observation and using color to express light became the most important element in the work.

In contrast, his “inscapes,” works created in his studio, afforded him time to repaint imagery to his liking. Inscape is a term for images where the subjective and objective play equal roles, generally reflecting the inner nature of a person or object. Gibson’s inscapes often include multiple images, overlapped or juxtaposed in a layered effect.

Gibson’s original intent was to fuse aspects of western landscape with his typical imagery, but he found it difficult to integrate his sabbatical experience into his studio work. His inscapes instead offer an introspective contrast to his plein-air works.

Ben Gibson was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1946, and has been teaching painting, drawing and design at Edinboro since 1978. His works are in many museum collections, including the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Butler Institute of American Art and the Springfield, Missouri, Museum of Art.